Dr. Lee earned a doctorate in aquaculture at the University of Tokyo. In 1981, he joined the Oceanic Institute as a research scientist and was appointed Assistant Vice President in 1992. At The Oceanic Institute, he has focused his efforts on “conducting and directing applied research to mitigate problems that impeded the further expansion of the aquaculture industry of several important cultivated species.”

To that end, he served as principal investigator for a number of projects funded by the USDA, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other federal and state agencies, including Technical Assistance in Finfish Aquaculture, Development of Marine Finfish Hatchery Technology in Egypt, Technology Transfer of Fish Fry Production and Improvement of Shrimp Farming Technology in Hawaii. His work resulted in the selection of Penaeus vannamei as the best species for culture in Hawaii and in the establishment of commercial-scale fry production technology for milkfish and striped mullet, as well as forming the basis for culture of other marine finfish species.